I've never been one to shop at thrift stores. For starters, I've never been able to hack the smell of them. All those many different people smells mingled together to form one human stench almost turns my stomach, and secondly, I've never been able to find anything that wasn't junk.
However, my mom is a thrift store junkie, and she's able to find all kinds of deals and nice things at a good price. Every time she comes here or we go to her house, she insists we check out all the local thrift stores. Now I'm finding that I'm becoming a thrift store junkie myself.
My sister and brother-in-law came down for a visit over the weekend. It rained every single day they were here, so the beach was a no-go. Instead we checked out all the thrift stores within a reasonable driving distance from where we live. We found a few things then - Spiderman and Batman action figures for Parker, some stuffed animals for Haley, loads of books for the kids, games, etc. - but my husband also discovered a set of books he has long coveted. He didn't get them then though. Why, I do not know. Instead he left them and then proceeded to talk about them nearly every hour of every day since then. Thus, the reason we were on the road today heading to that very thrift store, a Salvation Army, to get those books if the price was right.
These are the books hubby found and bought. The series is put out by Encyclopedia Britannica and is called "Great Books of the Western World". It includes things like Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Austen, Plato, T.S. Eliot and quite a bit more. It's only missing four volumes. We've already checked, and they can be purchased seperately from Amazon sellers. The set is going at Amazon for $900. Our price? Ten bucks!!
While hubby drooled over his books and checked out a few other things - mostly more books - I checked out the children's clothing. It's easier for me to find things at thrift stores for the kids than for myself. They're not near as picky as I am. Hehe. I found two pairs of jeans for Parker - Gap and Osh Kosh brands.
I also found five pairs of jeans for Haley, all name brands. Pants for children were only $1.99 a piece.
I also found two Old Navy dresses for Haley. These were only $2 a piece. She loves them.
I found 18 shirts and tops. Ten were for Parker. These were nearly all things he is obsessed with - Superman, Batman, Cars, dinosaurs, pirates, etc. He's been trying them all on all evening, wearing one for about ten minutes and then changing into another.
Haley got eight tops. These are mostly Old Navy, although there are a few Tommy Hilfigers and Gaps. Tops were only $1.49.
My personal find was the first season of "That 70's Show". You'll never believe what I paid for it!! One dollar!!!!
That was our thrift store finds for the day. We spent $55.75 and the clothes had to be brought home in a large garbage bag. My husband asked me what we could have gotten at a real store for that price, and I told him probably one pair of jeans and two tee shirts for Haley at Old Navy. I was very picky with what I found. There are no stains, tears, rips, holes, or any defects with any of the clothes, and they're all brand names. The upper corner of the DVD case is a bit stained, but all the discs are there and are not scratched up - and who could beat that price anyway! If you could see the bookcase after bookcase overflowing with books in our home then you would know without a doubt that my husband is absolutely thrilled with his book find. He compared the day to Christmas even! Guess we are now thrift store junkies. We're talking of having a thrift store day each month where we check out all the thrift stores. LOL
Do you shop at thrift stores?
What's your best bargain you've found at a thrift store?
How many thrift stores are near you?
How often do you check them out?
If you do not shop at thrift stores, why?
Does the smell of thrift stores bother you?
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Comments: 80
I used to go thrift store shopping with my Mom, I loved going with her. When I was a teenager she would always buy me books - I was & still am a avid reader! The thrift store can be a great place to fulfill the book need!
What's your best bargain you've found at a thrift store? Everything I buy is a good deal or I wouldn't buy it
How many thrift stores are near you? only 2 but when we go to Morgantown to the Doctor, we find lots more. :)
How often do you check them out? Every chance we get
If you do not shop at thrift stores, why? I do you crazy girl. LOL
Does the smell of thrift stores bother you? If it smells bad, I don't shop there. We went into one a few weeks ago and My allergies made me head for the door.
but i LOVE thrift stores.. that's where i get a lot of my jewelry or stuff for my room ! the one i go to the most has all jewelry for $1.. except if it's in the glass case than it's anywhere from like $5-$20.. but it's really nice jewelry that's in there !
i have about 5 thrift stores near me.. but there is only about 1 or 2 i go to a lot.. cause they usually have the best stuff !
i've gotten a couple articles of clothing that have that weird smell no matter how many times i wash it.. but i just wear lots of perfume ! haha
Those books your husband got look awesome! I would have grabbed those up too!
The only reason I don't shop at thrift stores is because we don't have any near us. Heck, we don't have ANY stores near us so it's a trek just to get to a Target or whatnot. I wish we had one because I'd be there all the time searching for bargains.
And, yes, the smell does bother me sometimes. Smell of the store really. But I also always wash everything that comes from them.
You got a ton of clothes for the kids. That's insane. I need to go shopping at thrift stores more often I guess.
What a great deal on the books!
I find kids clothes, toys, books, namebrand stuff that is hardly been used. I always feel excited when I bring home all the goodies and then figure out how much I really saved!!
Looks like you got some GREAT stuff for really great prices!!!
My best deal ever was when I lived in Denmark. There was a government run thrift store, where you could fill a 20 gal garbage bag with all clothes, belts, hats, shoes for 30 dollars. Now Danish people are huge brand name fans, so everything was brand name and when I got home I only found three items with stains on. Since I have been traveling a lot, I am very good at packing. I rolled every item up, before I put it in the bag, and I came home with more than 250 items. That's about 12 cent a piece. We got fancy winter coats for the boys and I, dresses for me, pants, shirts for the boys, clothes to wear at the farm, black leather boots for me etc. It was the best deal I've ever found, and I went home and cleared my closet for all the things that I had not worn in years.
I have shopped thrift stores for furniture, books and dinner plates (of course with roses on them)! I frequent flea markets and antique stores.....it is amazing at the great things you can find at great prices!!
A new thrift store has recently opened in Conway, - think I will check it out next week!!
My best find(s) there were two of them. One was a tabletop pinball type game from the late 40's early 50's. I paid a dime. Two months later I was going through an antique/collectors book and opened the book in the middle to.......you guessed it, my little pinball game. It's worth a good penny. 1000's times what I paid for it.
Then hubby brought me the ugliest cat bank I have ever seen. You could tell it was old and the paint is peeling off of it. But it's in great shape. He wanted the bank. I didn't care one way or the other. It was also a dime. So, what did we have to lose? Started researching banks online shortly thereafter and found out it's from the 1700's to early 1800's. It's worth upwards of $350 minimum. The cat bank is now in our china cabinet for all to see but not touch. lol
I'm really a garage sale freak and miss Arkansas for that very reason. I love Arkie garage sales.
Does that mean that Haley will get rid of that ugly skirt that she loves so much?
I haven't gone lately, but the best deal that I got was in March when everything was 25 cents. Also a month of so ago, I pick up a set of OLD Samsonite suitcases for the end of the bed. There were a matching set in different sizes of three and in brand new condition. I paid $20 and then saw just one on Ebay for over $100!
great finds you got there! way to save money!
As for the smell... I never really noticed any (strong) smell - which is ironic because I always been hypersensitive to smells... so I am not quite sure why!
Great finds, Victoria.
Do I shop at thrift stores? Oh, heck yeah! All the time. Waste not, want not. I'm a green girl and what better way to recycle, eh?
My best buy ever was a box of turquoise plates for $6. I recognized the designer but had no idea how much they were really worth. I sold them on eBay for almost $700. A museum even contacted me to see exactly what kind of shape they were in before they bid on them. Turns out they were a rare color for that style.
The smell has never bothered me and I'm like Erin above - a keen sense of smell.
I have a list of thrift stores in the area from when I used to sell on eBay. Now I visit maybe once every couple of months and mostly for kids clothes.
woohoo... i have not been in awhile, but i'm thinking of going to
Goodwill soon... sometimes the smell of moth balls makes me
dizzy... ???
We have tons of them around here. We don't go a lot but every so often. I got a bunch of books for Maddie for 50cents each one time.
We have bought records, some clothes, books, we have found some neat things to give as gifts, I found some cool hats one time...
When I was in hs a friend and I used to go every weekend to all the thrift stores and find stuff.
to an extent the smells bother me but not too terribly bad. I have found some stores are worse than others for the smells...
Thanks for sharing your thrift store finds! I'm a fan of thrift stores and garage sales myself, and have scored many items I treasure from these sources over the years. Indeed, I just picked up a 30 album record collection with faves like Charlie Brown's Christmas this weekend at a yard sale. I don't have a record player yet.... but there's always another sale to scout for one. ; )
We have the Airmen's Attic on base, that is kind of like a thrift store, only the stuff is free. It's mostly clothes. I've only been there 2 or 3 times, too. I did find some cute clothes for Elliott there, but it seemed like most of what we found in his size was girls' clothing instead.
When he died, I did not want to keep them and no one in the fam wanted them - they do take up a lot of space if you are not going to actually READ them... LOL
If I had known you then, I would have beaten your thrift store price - FREE! but I would probably have had to SEND them to you and that might cost (ha, for sure) more than $10.
What a deal!
Salvation Army and other private ones are faves.. goodwill usually is not good.
i definately think you should burn me a copy of your THAT 70S SHOW dvd and mail it to me for my birthday. :)
love you!
I picked my son up a scooter for $2 there which was a steal. I never have time to really look for deals so I do not usually shop at thrift stores. I have found that if you hit target just right sometimes I can get the kids clothes for 75% off. I also have found work clothes there for 2-3$ a piece.
I love thrifty shopping. Great finds!